James h



unire srarns PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES I-I. PATTERSON, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

MANNER 0F FORMING BLOCKS OF WOOD INTENDED TO BE USED FOR THE PAVING 0F STREETS AND ROADS IN GENERAL.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,953, dated January 27, 1841.

T 0 all whom 2'25 may concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES H. PATTERSON, of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement in the manner of forming blocks of wood intended to be used for the paving of streets and roads in general and which improvement is also applicable to the forming of a foundation'for sustaining the iron rails for railroads; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

l cut my blocks rectangularly, or nearly so, in all their parts, and adapt them to each other in such a manner as that they shall interlock, and that no single block in the series which crosses a road, or street, can be pressed down without depressing the whole series; thus distributing the weight which bears upon them in one part, over the whole number. Under the arrangement here indicated, the blocks interlock on those sid-es only which are in contact with each other in crossing the road, or street.

Figure l, in the accompanying drawing, represents t-he form which I give to Iny blocks when it is intended that they shall support each other in a straight line only, reaching from curb to curb, or side to side, of the street, or road. A, A, constituting' one half of the face of the block is out away so as to have two rectangular depressions, of an inch, more or less, in depth; and it is manifest, therefore, that it will admit the projecting portions A, A, of a second block, similarly formed, into the recesses A, A', and that no individual block in a series thus united can be depressed without depressing those on each side of it. The offsets in these blocks are cut reotangularly.

F ig. 2, shows a series of such blocks when connected with each other; and to give these the requisite stability, the two end blocks in the series should be sustained by a well fixed curb stone, or other device; such, for example, as a bed of concrete, by which the series of blocks will be sustained, as by abutments. if it is desired to elevate the road, or street, in the middle, so as to render it somewhat crowning, one or more of the blocks in the center may be made wedgeshaped, to the required extent.

Having thus, fully described the manner in which I form my blocks of wood for the purpose of paving roads, streets, &c., what I claim therein as constituting my inven tion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The cutting of such blocks on two of their sides so that they shall have four, or more, rectangular faces, with rectangular offsets, as here described, when said blocks are intended to support each other in a straight line only, crossing the road, or street, and as it will be manifest that the principle upon which I shape my blocks may be carried out by forming a greater number of rectangular faces, and offsets, I do not intend to limit myself in this particular; but l am confidently of opinion t-hat any change in these particulars would only render the plan of construction more complex, without being productive of any advantage.

JAMES H. PATTERSON Vitnesses R. R. BURR,

OLEMT T. (Toorn. 

